Daniel Mulvihill

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Daniel Mulvihill (born March 17, 1903 , † July 12, 1970 in Coeur d'Alene (Idaho) ) was an American medic . He became known as the central figure in an international incident in 1933.

Live and act

After attending Holy Cross College , Mulvihill devoted himself to studying medicine at Yale University Medical School . He received his degree there in 1928. In the following years he worked as a surgeon at Long Island Medical College Hospital .

In 1933, Mulvihill stayed in Berlin for a few months to study the methods of German colleagues, particularly Ferdinand Sauerbruch , at the Charite . During this time he became the focus of an incident with international repercussions: On August 15, 1933, Mulvihill observed a march of the National Socialist SA on the boulevard Unter den Linden in Berlin's government district . Since, unlike the rest of the spectators, he did not offer the parade SA people the Hitler salute, but watched them without this "honorary certificate", an SA man who noticed this stepped out of the marching formation, approached Mulvihill and completely unexpectedly gave him one violent blow to the head, with Mulvihill sustaining an eardrum injury severe enough to temporarily put him in danger of becoming deaf. Then the SA man calmly returned to the formation and joined the group again.

After Mulvihill complained to the American embassy about the unmotivated attack, the attack quickly escalated into an international incident: In the days that followed, numerous outraged reports appeared in the American and British press denouncing the brutality of the Nazi stormtroopers and the atrocity of the attack on an American citizen. According to reports from its Berlin diplomats, the American government officially filed a complaint with the German government about the incident. In an effort to smooth the diplomatic waves, the Nazi government had Mulvihill's attackers arrested and sent to a concentration camp , while the Berlin SA chief Karl Ernst paid an apology visit to the American ambassador William Edward Dodd , during which he expressed his regret over the attack on Mulvihill and promised to take steps to stop similar attacks. The Hitler government took the Mulvihill case as an opportunity to have the Prussian Interior Minister Hermann Göring issue a decree instructing state organs and “national organizations” such as the SA and SS that foreign nationals should in future not be obliged to perform the German greeting against German sovereigns, flags and badges and should not be harassed or prosecuted for his failure or refusal.

During the Second World War , Mulvihill was used as a medic in the 15th field hospital (Evacuation Hospital) of the US Army in Africa, Sicily and Italy. After the war, Mulvihill was director of thoracic surgery at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York and a lecturer at New York University School of Medicine . In 1968 he moved to Chicago, where he took a position as co-director of the American College of Surgeons . He died in 1970 while attending a College of Surgeons convention in Idaho.

literature

Secondary literature:

  • Erik Larson : In the garden of beasts . Seattle 2013.
    • German: Tiergarten - In the Garden of Beasts. An American ambassador to Nazi Germany . Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-455-50304-3 .

Obituaries:

  • Daniel A Mulvihill, Surgeons' Officer . In: The New York Times, July 15, 1970.
  • Service Set Tomorrow for Dr. Mulvihill . In: The Chicago Tribune, July 15, 1970.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See e.g. E.g. Nazi Attacks New York Surgeon in Berlin For Failing to Give "Hitler Salute" at Parade . In: The New York Times, August 18, 1933; American Doctor Hit. Fails to Salute Nazis . In: The Washington Post, August 18, 1933.
  2. ↑ Reich Jails Nazi Who Hit American. Secret Police Arrest Trooper Who Struck Mulvihill During Parade in Berlin . In: New York Times, August 19, 1933; Nazi Who Attacked American Arrested. Quick Action is Reported by Official at Berlin . In: The Boston Globe, August 19, 1933.
  3. ^ Nazis Drop Salute From Foreigners. Attack on American by Storm Trooper Brings Exemption . In: The Washington Post, August 20, 1933; Stern Nazi Orders Protect Americans. Berlin Decree Says Attacks Hurt Reich Policy of Friendly World Relations . In: The New York Times, October 24, 1933.
  4. ↑ Biography of William Edward Dodd (1869–1940).
personal data
SURNAME Mulvihill, Daniel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American medic
DATE OF BIRTH March 17, 1903
DATE OF DEATH July 12, 1970
Place of death Coeur d'Alene, Idaho